Skyroot Aerospace’s maiden mission, named Prarambh, will launch the rocket on a sub-orbital mission with three payloads.
Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad-based space-tech startup, is set to launch India’s first privately developed rocket Vikram-S tomorrow. The launch will take place at 11:30 am from ISRO’s launchpad in Sriharikota.
The company’s maiden mission, named Prarambh, will launch the rocket on a sub-orbital mission with three payloads, two from Indian customers and one of an international customer.
“Heartbeats quicken. All gazes are up to the sky. The earth is listening. It all points to November 15, 2022 for launch,” according to Press Trust of India, citing the company. PTI further reported that a Chennai-based aerospace startup, Spacekidz, will fly a 2.5kg payload ‘Fun-Sat’ on the sub-orbital flight onboard Vikram-S. This is developed by students from India along with those from the US, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Skyroot Aerospace was founded by former employees of the Indian Space Research Organisation – Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka. It is the first startup to sign an MoU with ISRO for sharing facilities and expertise. Further with this launch, it will become the first private space company in India to launch a rocket into space.
Earlier in September, the company had raised $52 million (around Rs 400 crore) through a Series-B financing round from Singapore sovereign investor GIC. It is likely the biggest funding round ever in the Indian space-tech sector. Before this, Skyroot has raised $11 million (around Rs 88 crore) in a Series-A financing round in July last year.
